BTS — short for the Bangtan Boys — is a seven-member boy band from South Korea. The group debuted in 2013, going on to win awards within a year’s time from the MelOn Music Awards, Golden Disk Awards and the Seoul Music Awards. BTS also made history with its second full-length album Wings charting at #1 on iTunes in nearly 30 countries and debuting at #26 on the Billboard 200; previously a K-pop album had never charted so high in the U.S. Forbes recognized BTS as the most retweeted artist on Twitter in March 2016, while Billboard placed BTS in the #1 spot on its Social 50 chart in October 2016. Earlier this year, BTS ranked at #5 on the Power Celebrity list of Forbes Korea.
2017 has not only brought the release of a new BTS album, You Never Walk Alone, but also a world tour. 117,000 tickets have been reportedly sold for this tour, which includes New York area stops at the Prudential Center on Mar. 23 and 24. Following the pair of sold-out concerts in Newark, BTS has sold-out arena shows in Chicago and Anaheim. In celebration of these major events, Downtown conducted Q&A with all of the BTS members — Rap Monster (Kim Namjun/Team Leader, Rapper), JIN (Kim Seokjin/Vocalist), SUGA (Min Yoonki/Rapper), J-HOPE (Jung Hoseok/Choreographer & Rapper), JIMIN (Park Jimin/Choreographer & Vocalist), V (Kim Taehyung/Vocalist) and JUNG KOOK (Jeon Jungkook/Vocalist, Rapper, Choreographer) — via e-mail.
Jung Kook: Yes, it was our first time in the city. We were very excited to go back with even bigger shows packed with new songs and performances.
Did you try any restaurants while in New York? Any sightseeing experiences that were especially memorable?
Rap Monster: I loved Shake Shack last time I was in New York. Best burger yet! Thank god we have Shake Shack in Seoul now. I was enchanted by the scene at Times Square because it was my first time as a tourist.
J-Hope: I tried a Korean restaurant in New York back then and the meal was some of the best Korean food in the world. I also loved walking around Midtown area and Times Square. Awesome!
V: I had the best Korean food at Korea Town in New York!
Will you have any time to explore New York during your tour dates?
Jung Kook: Our tour schedule is very tight this time since we have other shows coming up in Chicago and the L.A area. We hope we can find some time to explore New York during the stay to check out the beautiful night skyline and everything else.
Suga: “Spring Day,” the lead single. I wrote the lyrics based on my very personal story that involves my old friends.
Jung Kook: “Not Today.” It has very intense lyrics that excite people and I especially love choreography of the song. It is one of the best and coolest of BTS.
Aside from your upcoming tour, what is coming up for you and BTS?
Jung Kook: The upcoming tour is the most important event for us in 2017. We’re trying to go to as many cities as possible this year. We’re also planning to write more music on our own.
What is your favorite part of touring?
Jimin: Favorite part of touring is that we get to meet thousands of fans from around the world. Wherever we go, fans are passionate and they show us lot of unconditional love. It is very special experience for all of us to sing and perform in front of people who are singing the song in Korean together.
When not busy with BTS, how do you like to spend your free time?
Jin: When not practicing, I’d stay home and take rest. I like playing games with other members and watching TV.
J-Hope: I write lyrics or play around with tracks I’ve made. I also try to study foreign languages during my free time.
Jung Kook: I work out from time to time and play games with my BTS brothers at home.
Rap Monster: I usually read books in my free time. I go out and meet my friends sometimes. But most of the time, I wander around the city listening to music.
Rap Monster: dvsn’s dvsn, J. Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only, Chainsmokers’ Collage EP, Justin Bieber’s Purpose, and Flume’s Skin.
Finally, any last words for the kids?
Jung Kook: Hey, BTS is coming to New York! We’ve been waiting for this tour for a long time. We’ve got so much prepared for the shows, so expect the unexpected of K-pop!
Formed by award-winning producers Tonya Lewis Lee and Nikki Silver, the New York City-based ToniK Productions creates, develops and produces films and television programming. ToniK’s 2013 production The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963 was adapted from the novel in partnership with Walden Media, Hallmark, Walmart, and Proctor & Gamble. 2014’s The Giver, as adapted from the Lois Lowry novel, starred Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgard, Katie Holmes, and Taylor Swift. Tonya and Nikki have well over two decades of combined experience as producers and five Emmy Awards among them.
Currently on the slate for ToniK is the film Monster, as adapted from the Walter Dean Myers novel. The cast of Monster — as co-produced with Bron Studios and Mike Jackson of John Legend’s Get Lifted Film Company — includes A$AP Rocky, Nas, Jennifer Hudson, Jeffrey Wright and John David Washington. The film, with a script written by Colen C. Wiley and Janece Shaffer, will be the feature directorial debut of Rihanna collaborator Anthony Mandler. Monster, now in post-production, is set for a 2017 release.
Downtown visited Tonya and Nikki on-set while filming at Brooklyn’s Cinema World Studios. More on Monster can be found at www.tonikproductions.com, while both Tonya and Nikki can both be followed on Twitter. More on Tonya can also be found on Healthy You Now, a site about women’s health and wellness which she founded in 2007.
How did you two become involved with this production?
Nikki Silver: Monster is a book that we optioned over 12 years ago. It was given to us by a development executive and really once I read it, it was just sort of amazing. It told such a universal tale but a very poignant tale, an important tale. It is a social justice piece, it is a piece about our criminal justice system. It’s also a piece about a 17-year old boy, both of which Tonya and I have experienced is probably the better way to say it, and the choices teenagers make and how that can change your life especially if you’re urban black child from Harlem. And that’s the story of Steve Harmon. Tonya and I became partners at about the same time that book was auctioned, and we have been steadily moving this ball up the hill putting all the pieces together to get the film done.
You said 12 years. So does that mean that there were a few runs where it looked like it was going to happen and it didn’t happen.
Tonya Lewis Lee: Well, I would say it took us a while to find the right partners in every which way. So I think initially we thought about finding a financial partner to come onboard to actually make the movie, but then we took a step back and realized we needed to develop it. So we needed the script. So we took some time to find a partner to help us develop a script and it took us some time to find the right writer. I think we probably spent a good five years trying to get a really great script, which ultimately we did, but you know it does take time. Once we had the script, we had to take it around and try to find the financing for the film, and that took another couple of years to do so. It takes time, and it takes time to do it right. We did have a couple of times when we were really close but whatever it was it wasn’t right for us.
NS: Walter Dean Myers wrote the book, one of the most prolific and adult authors of our generation. Walter passed away sadly two years ago, but he knew that we had the rights, and this is sort of his most beloved novel. I think that Tonya and I have always felt that it’s incumbent upon us to bring his vision to life properly and with respect. And so we have been very cautious about the choices that we’ve made and really feel like we’ve finally got all the pieces together…It is still extremely relevant, and in some ways at the consciousness of more so even now than it would have been 12 years ago, so all things come at the time they’re supposed to.
Nikki & Tonya on-set
Another one of the amazing things about the movie, besides the buzz on it, is the cast that’s attached to it. It’s almost like it’s an all-star film.
NS: It is. We have an incredible ensemble on our cast, from A$AP Rocky to Nas, Jennifer Ehle, Tim Blake Nelson, Jennifer Hudson, John David Washington…
NS: And he is phenomenal, and they all are, every single one of them. Our lead, our star, Kelvin Harrison Jr., this is like really his first breakout role. He too is an amazing actor who often says he’s like in a master class working with this cast, just watching and learning from all of them. So we are so fortunate to have such a great cast, and I think that Tonya and I, we always say and we have proven time and again that with the right material you can bring the right cast. Whether it’s a smaller movie or a bigger movie, if you’re doing good material, you will find people that understand that and want to be a part of that, and that’s really what this is. We’re creating a movement with Monster and every one of the cast wants to be part of it and they’re all completely committed to their role and to the film. It’s really remarkable.
Who was the first cast member to come onboard for this film? Do you remember?
TLL: A$AP Rocky…You know I remember earlier on, I went to see Rihanna and he opened for her and he came onstage and I was like, “Who is this person?” My family was like, “He’s amazing.” And then I started paying attention and then as we got more into the development of Monster, it was just he had to be in this film. He’s from Harlem, he is of the right age and just even his music. He had to be a part of this even before we had our director on…Then Anthony [Mandler] came on, and Anthony has a relationship with him and it worked the way it was supposed to. And Rocky says he read this book in high school…so it was meant to be.
How did you two first meet?
TLL: Actually, Viacom put us together, we were at Nickelodeon. I was there, i just finished a project and I was looking for something else to do with them and Nicky came and I pitched in Miracle’s Boys. They said, “Hey, why don’t you guys work together?” I don’t know that they thought we’d still be here.
You worked in 1515 [Broadway]?
NS: Yeah…It works because we challenge each other and it works because we don’t always have the same ideas. It works because we fight and make up and learn from that, it’s a partnership in the truer sense of the word. I do think I speak for both of us in this case I think we make each other better.
Do you have an accomplishment that you’re proud of so far most proud of rather with ToniK?
TLL: For me, I would say it’s the fact that we’re doing it and we’re making Monster.
NS: Right for me, in this moment right now, if you were to ask me what I’m proudest of it’s the fact that we’re here at this stage and we’re making this film that we’ve been able to get here. It was a dogfight. I just think my answer is almost the same as the last answer, I’m proud of the fact that we may remain true to our vision and that there’s just honesty about everything that we do.
So when you’re not busy with tonic what does each of you like to do with your free time as New Yorkers and all?
NS: I’m a born and bred New Yorker, I grew up in Washington Heights. I have three children and a husband. That certainly keeps me busy. A 19-year old, a 17-year old and a 13 year old. You know New York has been a character in my life my whole life and I love shooting here and doing stories about New York. It’s so much a part of who I am.
Family aside, how do you like to spend your free time?
NS: I love music, I love films I love going…There’s nothing to me better than a Saturday night with my husband and my children — if they decide not to go out and come with us — going to the movie theater, getting a big thing of popcorn and then having dinner afterwards at some local neighborhood restaurant on the Upper West Side.
What about you, Tonya? You live in Brooklyn?
TLL: No, we live in Manhattan; we’ve lived in Manhattan for many years now. Yeah, I’ve just been visiting Brooklyn again and I’m amazed how the neighborhood is, it’s amazing. But for me, I would say I wear lots of different hats and I like to, I advocate for women’s health when I’m not doing film and I take it very seriously and traveling the country. I love going to different parts of the country and meeting all kinds of folks and talking about ways to make them and other families and our communities healthier. And then on the free time I get, I love to read, I like to read a lot of novels and I also like to watch a lot of television amount of movies, I watch a lot of TV, Netflix, Amazon…I love Amazon because everything that I can’t catch on a regular basis,I’m not good at DVR so I end up paying for it. (laughs)
How are you “not good at DVR?”
TLL: I should just be doing it, but the thing is, I don’t think about it, then I’m like, “Oh shoot, I didn’t do it,” and I end up buying it on Amazon. But I gotta get better, because when the bill comes… (laughs) Yeah I try to watch as much as I possibly can because I really look forward to getting into the episodic space again, I mean, we did Miracle’s Boys, which is a six-part series for Nickelodeon. I just love that medium and look forward to getting the opportunity to do more with it.
So finally, any last words for the kids?
TLL: Dream big, and they do happen. Dream big and make it happen, I would say. I’m going to say persistence. You know it’s very easy to get a lot of no’s in your life and that’s okay, because the yes’s do come and if you’re persistent, you can turn those into yeses. And be present in whatever opportunities you’re presented with, whatever it is, even if it’s something that you think doesn’t go into…
NS: I love that. Be present, and it all goes by really fast and it’s really really easy to get caught up in all of it. And we do that for ourselves, we step back every now and then because you get so caught up…and then you step back and you say, “Look where we are.” It’s amazing what we’ve created and I will say this. We love hiring young people and we’ve hired lots of young people. Sometimes they understand the gift that they’re given and sometimes they don’t. That’s why I say that, because if you’re busy trying to leapfrog over to the next, you don’t get what you’re supposed to get from the moment that you’re in and that’s one of the things I’ve seen often with young people.
SonReal may be new to the United States as a touring major label artist, but he has been at it for a decade in his native Canada. The Vancouver-based artist’s career really took off in 2013 when his video for “Hometown” was nominated for Much Music Video Awards’ Hip-Hop Video Of The Year and his recording “The Closers” came up for a Juno Award for Rap Recording Of The Year. Additional high-profile nominations followed in 2014 and 2015, and a writer at MTV News referred to SonReal as “Drake’s Biggest Competition at the Juno Awards.” Now signed to Capitol Records, SonReal recently released his The Name EP and its single “Can I Get A Witness” has already sold gold in Canada.
In support of The Name, SonReal will be in town for an Oct. 9 gig at The Emporium, touring alongside Mike Stud. SonReal — whose civilian name is Aaron Hoffman — caught up with Downtown about The Name, his show in Patchogue and plenty more.
SR: I took my time and took all the steps to building the songs the way I saw them in my mind. But at the same time, some of the songs were the fastest tracks I’ve ever written. I wanted to have fun with this EP and show my listeners a new side of me so I approached my writing and recording with that in mind.
Did you write the songs in a series of sessions over time?
SR: Yes — over the span of one year!
Was the creative process more improvisation-based?
SR: Yes! On many of the songs, I did the scratch vocal first take to a piano melody or whatever, and that’s what we ended up using for parts of the actual song! Funny how sometimes your initial instinct is sometimes the best.
Where was your first-ever performance in New York City? What do you remember about it?
SR: Yeah, I headlined at Studio Room at Webster Hall and there was like 100 people there. It was actually really fun.
Did you ever travel to New York before your career took off?
SR: No, but I always wanted to and dreamed of performing in New York. All my favorite rappers were from New York: Nas, Capone-N-Noreaga, Mobb Deep…I loved New York rap growing up
Do you have a favorite restaurant in New York City? Or if not, is there one you hope to go to while you’re in town?
SR: I had some good sushi there once that was really good, but I forget the name of the restaurant.
For someone thinking of coming to see you on Long Island, what should be expected from your live show?
SR: A roller coaster. My music is all so different — there are emotional moments to turn up loose your mind moments. You just have to see it! I love performing, it’s one of my favorite things about my job.
Do you perform any music besides what’s on your recent EPs and mixtapes?
SR: Yeah, for sure. Lots of other stuff.
How did you hook up with Jon Bellion, who’s also on Capitol? Did your label introduce you two?
SR: His manager actually knew about my stuff for a long time. I never knew Jon before the tour, but that guy is one of the realest people I’ve met in this industry, and he’s someone I call a good friend.
